New Year's in New Orleans
by LitLover 101
Summary: Sequel to "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." It's New Year's and it's time for Madenzoline to bring the party down to New Orleans. This is going to be a New Year celebration that no one forgets
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own _The Vampire Diaries_ TV show. That honor goes to Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson.**

**Hello, my lovely readers. This story is brought to you by Alexis2106, ParaVis, Gams2000 and a Guest reader who wanted to see the possible sequel to "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." I hope that you enjoy the first chapter because the next one won't be posted until after New Year's. On with the show…**

Chapter 1: Just NO!

"No," Caroline continued to say as Enzo pestered her all the way back to her dorm room. Damon had dropped Caroline off and Enzo insisted on coming with her. "No, Enzo. I am not going to New Orleans!" Caroline snapped as she pulled out clothes from her drawers. She could not believe that he was insisting that they go down there.

"What are you so afraid of, Gorgeous?" Enzo inquired, sitting down on her bed and grinning at her. "Thought you would want to see the man that I reminded you of. Although I'm sure I'm much more attractive."

Caroline turned to pin Enzo with a nasty glare. Placing her hands on her hips, she opened her mouth. "Enzo, my reasons for not wanting to go there are mine. And you're not more attractive," she muttered the last bit as she turned back to her dresser.

Chuckling, Enzo rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. "Fine. What do you suggest that we do? Go to the Grill and have a party waiting for the Mystic ball to drop, or whatever it is you people do? Or do you want to go to the Salvatores for a rousing bit of pin the tail on the jackass with the younger brother?" Enzo inquired with twinkling eyes.

Rolling her eyes, Caroline whirled around to close her suitcase. "Shut up, Enzo," she ordered her friend before grabbing her suitcase and heading toward the door.

Before Caroline could reach the doorknob, she found herself face to face with Enzo. "You know the more you avoid a problem, the worse it gets," he told her seriously while leaning against the door.

"I have enough problems. I don't need more. Now move! I need to get back to the hospital," Caroline snarled, shoving Enzo with a one arm, holding on to the suitcase with the other.

Enzo didn't budge an inch. "You're going to the hospital? For what? So that you can sit around and wait to see if your mother passes? Just compel a nurse to keep an eye on her. I'm sure you can spend some time doing something other than driving your mother mad."

Narrowing her eyes, Caroline shook her head. "I was not driving my mom insane. And I resent that implication. Now, get out of the way!"

The older vampire didn't move an inch until Caroline's phone began to ring and then he simply shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Planning on answering that?" he inquired with an amused look.

Caroline glowered up at Enzo sourly as she pulled her phone out from her purse. "Hello?"

"Caroline. You need to come over. Right now," Matt said quickly.

"Over where?" Caroline replied as she looked at Enzo, her confusion evident.

"The Salvatore Boarding House," Matt stated. "That Kai dude, who Damon and Bonnie were stuck in hell with, kidnapped Elena. I guess he's holding her hostage until Damon hands Jo over to him. But Damon, Ric and Stefan have some kind of plan to stop him.

"We'll be there soon," Caroline said, hanging up her phone. She waited for Enzo who took a step to the side before opening the door for her. If they hurried they should be able to get there is less than thirty minutes.

Matt looked around at Damon, Ric and Stefan. None of them looked happy. Damon had been yelling at Kai for ten minutes straight before hanging up. Stefan who had been the one to answer the phone looked almost as angry. Ric had come over within fifteen minutes of the time that Damon had called him. Now, they just had to wait for the others. "We're not giving him Jo," Ric said with a frown as Damon glared back at him.

"Oh, well, gee. Thanks, buddy. So glad that Elena means less to you than some woman that you've known for zero time," Damon snapped back.

"Stop!" Stefan ordered the two. "This is not the time to argue. What we need is to wait for the others to show up. Then we will deal with Kai. Alright?"

Damon shook his head as he walked away to fill his empty glass. "Yeah, let's sit around and wait for the cavalry to come," he muttered sarcastically.

Sitting on one of the couches, Matt felt uncomfortable as they waited when Caroline and Enzo entered the room. "Hey," he called, causing everyone to glance up.

"What's the plan?" Enzo asked Damon who shook his head.

"We're waiting for some witches to show up to save the day. Is that great? Sit around and wait," Damon growled.

"Well, it beats walking in there and getting very dead since Kai has all that Traveler magic," Alaric snapped at his friend whose lips curled backward in a killer grin, laced with no humor. "And if someone had been paying attention when they were on babysitting duty none of this would be happening now," Alaric continued.

"Yeah, that's right," Damon yelled. "Blame me. 'Cause it's always fun to play the 'Blame Damon for Everything that Ever Goes Wrong Game?' Why is it that Bonnie is stuck in hell? Because Damon got sent back. Why is it that Stefan can't have a normal life? 'Cause Damon will find a way to ruin it for him. Why is it that Enzo has chronic anger issues? 'Cause I left him to burn to death. Why is it that Caroline can't find happiness with a guy? Could it be because she just sucks at dating? No! It's cause she dated me! Sorry. Sorry. Sorry! Now let's save Elena before I go outside and have an existential crisis, again?!"

"Did anyone order three powerful witches?" Liv called drily as she walked into the room with Luke, Jo and Tyler.

"Yeah, minus the werewolf," Damon replied with a smirk as Ric glowered at him and Matt smiled at Tyler who nodded back. It was nice to be around his friend even if the circumstances sucked.

"Too bad. I come wherever she goes," Tyler informed Damon while taking Liv's hands.

"How sweet," Damon snapped at him. "Now, here's the plan," he began as Matt sat back and hoped that this did not involve him dying in some gruesome manner. Yeah, he had the founder's ring. But that didn't really mean anything. When Damon was finishing, he looked around the room. "If anyone wants out, now, then I suggest you go because this is going to get ugly." No one left the room. "Good. Let's go."

Entering the high school where so many mind numbingly horrible events had ended in either the death or near death of himself or his friends, Damon led the march forward. He was told to come alone. Damon wasn't one for following orders. Keeping his eyes and ears open for the sneaky little bastard known at Malakai Parker, Damon felt better that Stefan and Ric were flanking him. They would stop at a certain point and he would go on his own, but there were a number of allies in the building. If Kai pulled something stupid they were waiting for him.

Jerking the doors open to the gymnasium, Damon found Kai shooting hoops in an old Mystic Falls High T. 'What the hell, was he trying to relive his misspent youth?' Damon thought irritably.

"Right on time," Kai called without turning to look at Damon. "Want to play some one on one?"

Damon sped across the floor and jerked the punk off his feet. "Look, Kai, you'll have to excuse me but I'm not in the mood for your bullshit and this is not a social call."

No more were the words out of Damon's mouth than Kai had him on the floor gasping in pain. "Now, Damon, I was trying to be nice. But if you want to get down to business, why don't you tell me where my sister is? Josette?" Kai shouted. "Where are you?"

"I'm right here, Kai," Jo replied as she marched into the room, followed by Liv and Luke.

"Ah, there you are. And you brought Olivia and Lucas. That makes it so much better so that I don't have to track them down," Kai told Jo who glared at him. When he came toward her the Wonder Twins joined hands and began to chant. Kai bumped into an invisible barrier. "Nice work. But not quite good enough. You see I recently came into some cool new powers. Want to see what I can do now?" Kai inquired. He began to chant when Caroline walked up behind him and stabbed him through his carotid artery with a pencil.

"That was for Bonnie," Caroline snarled. Stabbing him through the back, she growled, "And that is for Elena."

Kai sank to his knees. "You're going to have to do a lot better than that if you want to kill me," he told them with a grin.

"We don't want to kill you," Jo told her brother.

"We want to make you suffer," Stefan added as he appeared with a blow torch.

Kai put his hands up. "Okay, okay. I give up. Not that I'm opposed to being set on fire so that I will have even more of a reason to kill you when I get out of here, but I think that maybe you could stop now since Jo's here and I don't really need the rest of you." Everyone stopped what they were doing when Kai and Jo disappeared.

"Damon," Elena cried as Alaric looked around frantically for his girlfriend.

"Jo," Ric yelled. "Where is she? This is not part of the plan!" he cried.

Just as Damon opened his mouth to reply an angry woman appeared in the doorway. She lifted her hands as she strode through the doors with Jeremy Gilbert beside her. Her chanting was filling the room. "Ancestors, here my plea! Make the unseen seen!" she screamed as Kai appeared with his hand around Jo's throat. Waving a hand, the woman sent Jo flying in Ric's direction.

"Who the hell are you?" Kai demanded as he looked around him. Touching another barrier, he rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on! Find a new trick!"

"This is a new trick," Damon replied as he smirked at the angry witch who was making her way toward the barrier. "This is a vampire. Who was once a witch. And more importantly, this is Bonnie's mommy. You two kids play nice now," he called to Kai who did not look smug anymore. "P. S. That is Bonnie's boyfriend. How lucky are you that you get to spend time with two people on the planet who hate your guts, other than your dad, who is on his way as we speak? Have a happy New Year!"

Waiting outside the gym, Enzo was waiting for a good fight to begin. He knew what the signal for him to join the fray was. It was Caroline screaming. When he didn't hear that sound, he groaned. "Is this as boring as I think it is, or is just me?" he asked.

Matt looked at him from his position leaning against the opposite wall, "We've had more exciting times like the time that Klaus -"

"Matt, shut up!" Caroline yelled as she came out of the gym with Damon and Elena walking behind her.

"Ready to go?" Enzo asked Damon who nodded.

"Go. Go where?" Elena asked Damon who forced a smile.

"It's a surprise," Damon told her before attempting to pull her down the hall but she refused to move.

"They're going to New Orleans," Caroline stated drily with her arms folded over her chest. "First, they dragged me to Duke. Now, they want to go to Louisiana? Seriously?"

"Maybe it would be a good thing to go. Just for the holiday," Elena argued as Caroline looked at her like she was insane.

"No. I mean no way," Caroline shook her head. "You can go. But I'm not."

"Come on, Caroline. Your mom will be fine. I have a nurse compelled to see to her every whim and to slip a little of my blood into her system every twenty-four hours. Something happens, we'll be back before she wakes," Damon told Caroline who rolled her eyes.

"There is nothing stopping you, Caroline. Except you," Matt added. Enzo had to admit that Matt wasn't so bad after all. He did have the good sense to figure out which side to take in this argument. "Besides someone has to make sure that I don't get turned or eaten by someone and Elena can only do so much."

Caroline sighed heavily. "Fine. But I swear that next time I pick the holiday vacation spot," she said, waving a finger in her friends' directions.

"Yes," they answered.

Falling into step with his friend, Enzo watched Caroline's face out of the corner of his eye. Deny it all she wanted, she looked excited. Oh, this was going to be interesting. He wondered whether he would like New Orleans. After being locked up all those years almost anything would be better. "What's the first thing you're going to do when you get there?" he asked Caroline conversationally while Damon, Elena and Matt chattered away.

"Lock myself in my hotel room until it's time to go home," Caroline told him.

"Uh huh," Enzo just wondered how long that would last.

**Thanks for faving, following, reading and reviewing. Hit the review button like it will spew out hundred dollar bills, please! **

**Peace,**

**Jessica**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello, my lovely readers. Okay, well it's sometime after New Year's but that does not mean the story is over and we will see when I get another update up again. (I'm trying to not make promises that I can't keep when writer's block rears its unhappy head.) On with the show… **

Chapter 2: New Orleans, Here We Come

Matt had to admit that this might be one of the best ideas that Damon, (or was it Enzo), whatever, came up with. He was feeling mighty good after drinking far too much champagne after Damon compelled some nice people that they wanted to stay in Virginia for New Year's. Yes, first class was the way to go. The last time that he had been this pampered was back when Rebekah Mikaelson had whisked him off for a round the world trip. He wondered how Bekah was.

The last time Matt saw Rebekah, she had dug him up from a grave. That had been a frightening day. But it wasn't so bad when they got to have some time to talk. Just talk. Apparently she had met someone else in New Orleans. Or he should say she reunited with someone old. She didn't go into too much detail which was a relief. Matt was just satisfied that she was happy.

"Watch where you're walking, mate," Enzo ordered Matt when he ran into the irritable British vampire.

"I was," Matt protested before smiling widely. "Man, I love traveling with you."

Enzo began to chuckle. "You're thoroughly pissed, aren't you?"

"No, I went earlier," Matt replied, feeling confused when Enzo began to laugh loudly.

"What's so funny?" Elena asked as Caroline headed over to collect her suitcase with Damon who was examining the other travelers.

Smiling, Matt wrapped an arm around Elena's shoulders. "I love traveling. And I love all of you, too," he informed Elena who began to giggle.

"Matt, how much did you have on the plane?" Elena exclaimed as she looked at Enzo who shrugged.

"Who had what?" Caroline asked with a frown as she joined them. She folded her empty arms while Damon yawned.

"Matt's drunk," Elena told her with another giggle. "Why is Damon carrying your luggage?"

"'Cause he's her bitch," Matt announced which caused everyone else to laugh except for Damon who glowered at them.

"Better watch it, Donavon, unless you'd like to go home minus one less appendage," Damon threatened Matt who simply smiled back at him. Before Damon could run from him, Matt embraced him in a warm hug.

"It is so good to have you back. I don't think I said that yet," Matt told the vampire who looked both repelled and somewhat nauseous as Matt patted him on the back before letting go. This left Matt to ponder if vampires vomited.

"Let's get out of here. I think the airport security people think we're up to no good," Damon told them.

Enzo grinned. "Aren't we?"

Damon smirked. "Of course. Just not what they think. I want to see what kind of rental car I can get."

"Can't we just get a cab?" Elena asked him, her feet moving toward the exit.

"But I wanted a car," Damon whined.

Placing his hand to his mouth, "I think I'm going to be sick." Wrapping an around Matt, Caroline started to giggle as Matt leaned against her for support. "I'm really beginning to appreciate them as a couple."

"I think you're drunk," Caroline replied with another giggle.

Trying to look offended, Matt shook his head slowly back and forth. "Me? I'm not drunk. Now Enzo, he's probably drunk. Or maybe Damon, Damon's always drunk."

"I'm completely sober," Damon said with a triumphant grin after compelling some poor sap out of his rental car. When everyone in the group stared at him for a long period of time, he relented. "Okay. I may have had a drink or two on the plane."

"And from his flask," Elena added while Damon rolled his eyes.

"That doesn't count," Damon protested as he led the group toward the airport entrance.

"I'm shot gun," Matt cried out causing the others to laugh at him.

"Matt, you really need to drink some water," Caroline told her friend who grinned at her happily.

"I love you, Care," Matt announced causing Enzo to smirk at the quarterback.

"And that will get you nowhere, mate," Enzo informed Matt with a light slap on the back that caused Matt to stumble slightly.

Now it was Damon's turn to laugh. "On the contrary, my good friend, loving Caroline used to get Matt all kind of places that you're never going to go to… I think."

"Damon!" Elena shouted, slapping Damon on the arm.

Enzo looked like he was trying to process the idea of Matt and Caroline as Caroline stared off into space while Matt swayed back and forth. Eventually he spoke again, "So, you and the village idiot?" he asked Caroline who shrugged.

"We were in high school. I was human. And, for the record, Matt is not an idiot," Caroline retorted with a glare directed at Enzo.

Shouldering his bag, Enzo muttered under his breath, "Could have fooled me if he let you get away."

"Let it go," Matt sang cheerfully. "Let it go!" He only stopped when Damon threatened to rip his liver out and feed it to him minus salt.

"Damon, that is disgusting," Elena informed her boyfriend, or ex-boyfriend or however that was working out for the two of them.

Matt was still unclear on their status as of that time. Maybe he should check their Facebook pages. 'Did Damon even have a Facebook page?' he wondered as he sat back in the passenger seat and began to fiddle with the radio. Finding the woman with the name that he could not pronounce, or maybe it was the odd one of that show with the kids who sang and cried at lot singing his favorite song. "Let it go!" came over the speakers while Damon growled out a string of profanity that made Matt blush.

"One more time with that damned song and I will feed you to Enzo," Damon warned Matt who smiled back at him.

"I do eat not anyone with a lower IQ than I have. I am a strong believer in you are what you eat," Enzo snapped with a scowl.

Caroline groaned, "Would you please stop moping about my having dated Matt. It's not like it's your business who I've been with." Slumping in her seat, beside Elena, who was stuck between the fighting friends, Caroline ran a hand through her hair. "Just. Just find someone else to crush on. Elena's single. Right, Elena?"

"No. Not single," Elena protested, looking at Damon for a moment before looking out the windshield.

"And who are you dating?" Damon countered with a look of dismay.

"No one. Not yet. I mean I think I will be as soon as the two of us have time to talk about things," Elena began when Damon cut her off.

"I hope you two are very happy together," Damon told Elena before turning a corner. "I need a drink. Anybody else want a drink?"

"Yes," Matt said.

"Not you," Damon snapped at Matt who felt unhappy since they were obviously going to a bar and he wasn't allowed to come, too. "Does this mean that I have to stay in the car like the family dog?"

"Yes," Enzo answered.

"No," Caroline said loudly, throwing a glare Enzo's way who ignored her, getting out of the car.

Moaning loudly, Caroline got out of car while Matt waited for her to get past him so he didn't hit her with the door. He forgot that Elena had yet to get out and hit her in the stomach with the door. "Elena, I am so sorry," Matt began immediately feeling sober as he placed a hand on Elena's shoulder. Elena had her hand on her stomach and was about to say that she fine when Damon slammed Matt over the hood of the car.

"You freakin' idiot. What in the hell were you thinking?" Damon growled.

"Damon, stop it. I'm fine," Elena cried out as she glared at Matt who was fearing for his life which was nothing unusual for him when he spent time with this group. "Damon…" Elena called, placing a hand on the male vampire's shoulder who had yet to release Matt.

When Damon let go of Matt with an all too familiar wave of his finger in warning, Matt stood up and tried to not look as shaken as he felt. "Time to drink, yes?" Enzo called, looking around the group with an air of impatience. "First round is on me. Or, rather, it is on," Enzo shoved his hand in his pocket and pulled out a wallet. "Ross Jennings. Thank you, Ross." Pulling the money from the wallet, Enzo tossed the wallet into a trash can.

"You pick pocketed someone?" Caroline asked, looking horrified.

"What? Vampire has to find a way to pay when compulsion is not useful which it isn't always," Enzo replied, striding ahead of the blonde who folded her arms over her chest.

"You've got to excuse Little Miss Morality Police since her mother is a sheriff she thinks she's the law through association or something," Damon informed Enzo causing Caroline to elbow him. "Besides she's judgy just like her lil' pals. Little judgy clique." Damon continued when Elena smacked him on the arm at the same time that Caroline did. "And they're aggressive, too. Hey, Quarterback, how did you ever survive growing up with these two?"

"I drank a lot," Matt informed Damon. "Now, if I promise to not sing can I have a drink?"

"If you promise that you'll ride to wherever we end up staying on the roof of the car," Damon replied causing the two females in his company to slap him again. "Stop. Hitting. Me!" he demanded, glaring at Elena and then Caroline.

"Stop being such a dick," "Caroline ordered when they found a bar and she strode ahead of Enzo, elbowing him for good measure while dragging Elena along by the sleeve of her coat. "Lady's first."

"Provided that there are any in attendance," Enzo muttered receiving yet another glare from Caroline.

Matt was about to enter the bar behind Damon, Enzo, Elena and Caroline when Caroline came out looking flushed. "Wrong place. It's not even a bar. I think it's like a sandwich shop or something. Let's keep looking," she told the group while Elena was trying to peer over hers shoulder.

"What is it that you don't want us to see in there, Blondie?" Damon demanded as Caroline tried to push the group away from the doors to no avail.

"Smells like a bar," Enzo said, sniffing the air, shoving past Caroline, he entered. "Looks like one, too. Sorry, beautiful, but it looks like we're going in after all."

Caroline looked horrified as Elena walked in after Enzo followed by Matt. Five seconds later, Matt noticed Caroline being dragged into the bar by Damon. "No, I don't want to. You can't make me," she was protesting quietly, beating on Damon's chest with balled fists.

"It's for your own good. Time to face your demons. Or a demon. Take your pick. Coming, Matt, or are you going to just stand there and gawk?" Damon was staring at Matt through narrowed eyes while Elena and Enzo found a table to observe the drama.

"Uh, what are we doing?" Matt asked Damon as the vampire dragged Caroline across the room. Then he caught sight of the back of the man's head. "I don't think that's a good idea…"

"Sure it is. Trust me," Damon replied as he continued to pull Caroline along who was digging her heels into the floor. "Come on, Caroline. You know you want to talk to him."

Supposing that it was the sound of Damon's voice evoking Caroline's name was what caused the man to turn with a wide smirk on his stool, Matt felt his stomach twist painfully. "Hello, Damon. Matthew," the man said, his eyes barely moving toward either of them; he was far too focused on Caroline. "Hello, love, how good of you to come for a visit," he murmured.

"Hi, Klaus," Caroline whispered, yanking away from Damon. "Buy me a drink." Without another word, Caroline claimed the seat next to the smirking hybrid. Matt hoped Caroline didn't piss Klaus off like she tended to do because he would like to go home after this trip with his spleen intact.

**Thank you to everyone who has faved, followed, read and/or reviewed. **

**Answers to reviews: **

**Guest: Thank you for reviewing. **

**Gams2000: You're welcome. Enzo is a great friend depending on what he's focused on at that moment. You will definitely see Klaroline, Mazo friend moments** **and lots of craziness. I will try to. **

**AnneMarie2106: There will probably some Mabekah/Rebel in there somewhere. I'm playing this out a little more slowly than the first story so you'll see the New Years' kisses probably somewhere toward the end and I have no idea where the end will be. I'm not a big fan of Jolaric and Alaric was upset about Elena but he has so much bad luck with women and he was scared of losing another one. Thanks. **

**ObsessWithElijah: Yeah, I was wondering if anyone would wonder about that. Abby can't do much magic on her own but you have to imagine that she's channeling from a group of witches that we can't see because Kai made a few enemies in his time. I might come up with a better explanation as the story progresses. **

**Peace,**

**Jessica**


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